Leads & Introductions
Members introduced themselves and announced leads.  It's All About...

Bio Photos and Updates
Several members have not had their pictures taken.  Herb Stokes will be setting up at MABE on Friday February 12th.  Please make sure to be here if you need to be photographed.  Not sure if you are one of the "guilty parties"?  Click here to view the Member Directory.  If you don't have a photo, you need to attend the February 12th meeting ready to say cheese.

Please make sure to update your information for the brochure insert as well.

Don Ellis's surgery is today at St. Josephs.  No visitors today but he would welcome visitors over the weekend.  No flowers.  For more information you can contact his son Darren at the Landmark.

Carole Weishaar will also be going into surgery soon.  So keep her in your thoughts as well.

Member Spotlight
This week's spotlight is....(drum roll please)....Bill LaLonde!  Need more information?  Visit him at the home show this weekend.

Membership Update

• Stuart Schindler has resigned from the group. 

• Affirmative Carpet Care is no longer in business.  James is moving to California to be with his girlfriend who will be going to school there. 

• Keith Miller has also resigned.  He has changed his hours which conflicted with MABE meeting times.  Adam Dekavallas will be attending as a representative of AnDek Financial.  Adam reminded members of the services they offer.

• Dave Lathrop is working on a new member that handles title work for cars. 

Recommendations
Please remember to copy your LinkedIn recommendations to Melissa so she can include them on the MABE website.

Upcoming Speaker Schedule
January 22 - Panel Discussion (Topic - Commercial & Residential Real Estate Investments; Panel - Joe Hesch, Jake Ulrich, Andy Jensen, Bob Becker, Denver Johnson)
January 29 - Dave Crissman (Topic - Being a MABE Board Member)
February 5 - Guest Speaker (Topic - Retaining Employees)
February 12 - Jeopardy

Featured Speaker - Joe Burr
Joe appreciates being invited to join the group.  He is fortunate to have already received business.

Joe was born and raised in Mesa - a native.  He got a business degree from ASU.  From there he went to the University of Tulsa where he got his legal degree.  He came back to town and passed the bar the first time by 2 points.  They say if you pass by more than 1 point you studied too hard.  Jobs were hard to come by at that time.  He got some cards printed and leased a space and somehow managed to thrive for 13 years.

He has been married 11 1/2 years.  They have a 5 year old daughter.  He was working way too much and not spending enough time at home.  He began looking for something different to do.  He was playing golf with an old buddy that was also looking to do something different.  By the end of the golf round they had made a deal where Joe would by his business. 

It wasn't a turnkey deal for him as this company was having some financial and management issues.  The purchase took place 2 1/2 years ago.  The shop does have a great reputation which is one of the reasons he decided to buy it.  They have a large repeat customer referral base.  Last year they had some challenges with the economy the way it was.  But this year is off to a good start.  Things are turning around. 

He has a full-time manager on-site that is always available to talk to.  Their cycle times are at or below where they should be it.  They are extremely quick.  It helps relieve the stress of the process for customers.  Every car that comes out of the shop is fully detailed.  They also have a small fleet of rental cars for customers to use at no charge.  This is a feature that Joe implemented when he bought the store.  All of their technicians are certified with many years of experience.  It's a very well oiled car shop. 

The auto glass side of the business is completely mobile.  They will go all over the Valley.  Be real careful with the gimmicks that are running on window repairs.  Glass is not the same.  A lot of companies use inferior glass.  The cheap stuff cracks real easy.  Joe recommends everyone have windshield replacement coverage as it is very inexpensive.  We can also do chip repair. 

We don't promote it but we do offer auto detail service only - not just for cars we repair.

Our work comes with a lifetime warranty.  Car work is like anything else.  You can always get a cheaper price somewhere else.  We use the best products available. 

We are located on Alma School Road just north of Broadway on the west side. 


260 S Alma School Rd #101, Mesa, AZ 85210

The claims process - On the glass end it is pretty painless.  Don't call the insurance company first.  Call him first.  Have your insurance card in front of you and we will guide the process.  For repairs, if you come in with a claim number already it is helpful.  Once the estimate is written, depending on several variables, the insurance company will either total it out or process the claim and pay him directly less your deductible.  Supplemental are sometimes a hard hit.  You want to make sure you have collision coverage on your car.